This is Julia Borelli (im working on getting my own account)
I wanted to hear about everyones responses to the guest speaker we had today regarding the genocide in Darfur.
I have also thought of some question that I would be interesting to think about and discuss.
-Why do you think that the efforts made to better the situation have not made sigficant change?
-Why has the problem worsed over the last decade?
-Which group has been most effective in their efforts to help the situation?
-Why do you think the genocide in Darfur and Sudan as a whole have lasted so long?
-What do you believe to be possible outcomes of this issue? Do you see a way that it can be resolved?
These are some of the sights she listed, as well as other informational sights:
http://www.enoughproject.org/region/darfur/overview.php
This is a good site to keep you updated on exactly what's going on right now in Darfur, how people can help with the current situation as well as a history of the crisis.
http://www.darfursf.org/
This is the site for the coalition, it lists up coming events that are open to the public, it also has videos and news that show whats going on, and an online petition, that all of us can sign.
http://www.genocideintervention.net/
Genocide intervention is a broader site that sheds light on genocides that are occuring all over the globe, it does have a focus on darfur, It also allows you to sign up for STAND (the Student Anti-Genocide Coalition)
http://www.savedarfur.org/content?splash=yes
save darfur allows you to sign up to get daily emails with news from darfur, it also has information on the "Help Bring the Olympic Dream to Darfur" event, as well as a link to a blog.
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2 comments:
I learned a lot today from the guest speaker. Before coming to class, I did not know much about the genocide in Darfur, but I left with a good sense of the problem. She was very informative.
To answer some of your questions julia, I think that all the outside efforts to stop this genocide have not worked because no one is really enforcing anything. As mentioned in class, the UN has proposed many possible solutions, but they haven't sincerely acted on any of them. If the UN made a committed effort, they might be able to do something to aid the people in Sudan. Additionally, China's role in this problem is not helping. With their support of the Sudanese government, the genocide continues. If the government is able to obtain arms, then they are going to continue to use them. If foreign countries would stop supporting the Sudanese government, the problem might dissipate by itself becuase the government would receive no funding to continue the mass killing.
Otherwise, since many other countries are showing no tenacity in actually stopping the problem, it may be impossible for a country to get directly involved in stopping the government. The best thing we can do now is to in no way support the products that the government makes a profit off of. If nobody buys anything, they will soon have no money.
First of all, I felt that our guest speaker last Friday was incredibly informative and really crucial to our understandings about Sudan as well as the dynamics of many other genocides. I know for myself, I felt a little guilty for knowing as little as I did about the situation in Sudan, so the talk was a nice, quite brief summary of the complexity of the horrid and desperate situation that thousands of people are facing at this very moment. Though it is mentally impossible to begin to understand the "mechanics" of this crisis, i still feel it is essential that people have knowledge and exposure to the facts, which was definetely brought up.
One of my gut first reactions to the talk and just from the quick synopsis of the situation, was that this is a global crisis-- but also an extremely complex and knotted issue. With the sort of corruption of the Sudanese government combined with the intervention of Chinese's economic ventures, as well as the attempted and often failed attempts to assist diplomatically by the US, Canda, Australia and many other countries and organizations. This type of lack of clarity of the mere facts creates an enlarged problem that has only worsened and prolonged for years.
The other thing that really struck and saddened me was the failure of the rest of the world and our own country to act accordingly, and in an effective manner. America claims itself as this generous "aid" for anyone who is in a crisis and needs help, and yet we still can't admit to the public through the media that this is even a genocide or serious problem. Being interested in journalism and the role of the media in society itself, I found the point about the irresponsibility of the media to cover virtually ANYTHING on Darfur and Sudan, so that even federal officials are unaware and uneducated about the atrocities that are occuring in another country, that is still part of our planet. Though the press may feel that Americans are a bit distant and disconnected with the issue, since we haven't had any of our own men die there, yet shouldn't the public still have the right and responsibility to know about the situation? Doesn't the media have a mission to inform the public about crucial and current news about the things that are going on within one's own country AS WELL as in the rest of the world??
However, at the same time, it is difficult to say that without considering the type of restrictions and limitations for foreigners that have been intentionally set by the Sudanese government to protect themselves. Nevertheless, this is, as its been named, "The worst humanitarian crisis in the world" that may affect us in the future, considering they are investing most of their country's money in their military.
Therefore finding ways to help or even educate ourselves and others is the most important thing we can do right now. I agree with Aileen in that targeting their economic weaknesses by forcing companines to withdrawal contracts to do business with Sudan would be helpful in lowering their "power stick." I like the Darfur Fridays idea, I think we should all make an effort to check the websites, and do something very small for the big cause.
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